Image scanned from BBC Top Gear India Magazine. No copyright infringement intended. Image used only for illustration purpose.

One of the best supercars in recent times, the Lamborghini Gallardo LP 560-4 was brought to the Irungattukottai racetrack in Chennai for demonstration. In fact 5 of these cars were brought, out of which BBC Top Gear magazine’s Indian edition tested one of the five and published an article in their December issue. One of the cars caught fire at the Airport complex. The incident happened on 24th November at around 6.30am IST.

Ready to be loaded into an Emirates cargo flight, the fire happened in one of the car’s engine compartment when the car was being moved in its trolley. The engine compartment was totally gutted and reports suggest that the rest of the car is safe. This created a lot of tension in the Airport Cargo Complex, here in Chennai. Although no pictures are available right now, we will definitely upload some as soon as we get our hands on them.

Airport officials say that the car bearing registration number (EX 431 GK) was shipped from Milan, Italy for a demonstration. The car is worth Rs 2 crore. The car top gear tested and photographed was a dark blue LP 560 registered with the number – DK 430 GK, besides 3 more cars that were present.Airport officials claim that there was no visible sign of fire and only smoke was observed from the engine compartment. However, the engine was fully destroyed in this mishap.

“The main reason for the fire is this – One of the cars, (EX 431 GK) had  half a tank of fuel left. The staff, keen to empty the fuel for safety reasons left the car idling throughout the night so that fuel could be emptied. This is a serious issue in a closed space with no ventilation and for an engine as big as the one in the Lambo. The heat generated would have been so enormous and combined with a stationary vehicle with no flowing air, a disaster was just around the corner.”

A senior AAI official said: “The smoke activated fire sprinklers inside the cargo complex. AAI had handed over the car to the airline for loading and it was in the air cargo complex when the accident happened.” While Times of India claim that the exact reason for the fire is still not known yet, we are quite sure that the blame is on the Airport officials. “We will investigate the reason behind the accident because it could have turned into a major disaster if the smoke was not put out by the fire sprinkler system. Other consignments would also have caught fire,” he added.

As we inferred, a famous automobile expert said, “Lamborghini cars are supposed to be driven fast. The engine gets heated quickly and the cooling system works only when the car is moving at a high speed. Keeping the engine idling for a long time will heat it up. It is also possible that the car might have been manoeuvred at slow speeds inside the cargo area for loading.” The car was brought to Chennai using merchandise passport called Carnet’, which simplifies customs procedures for temporary import of various types of goods.

Whatever the reason, I hope others don’t make the same mistake of leaving any fuel in the tank so that they don’t lose their cars. As for the car, we, at Wheelosphere who are extreme car lovers, this comes as very sad news. We condemn the methods of the authorities if the mistake is on their side. As for the lambo, sorry mate. Not everybody knows how much you are worth, we do.

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